Euro falls as Eurozone growth forecasts slashed March 7, 2019 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi today announced a significant downgrade in Eurozone growth predictions as he renewed a stimulus programme of cheap loans to bolster the struggling economy. The ECB predicted that Eurozone GDP would increase only 1.1 per cent in 2019, 0.7 percentage points down from its December 2018 prediction. It forecast growth of [...]
OECD slashes global growth forecasts and warns of no-deal Brexit recession March 6, 2019 Global growth predictions were slashed today as a major economic body warned that a no-deal Brexit would see Britain return to recession. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cut predictions for the UK’s growth to 0.8 per cent in 2019 and 0.9 per cent in 2020. Read more: EU faces the biggest risks [...]
Buckle your seatbelts for the next global recession – the world is not prepared March 5, 2019 A decade on from the global financial crisis, the world economy is not in good health. Britain is paralysed by Brexit uncertainty, the Eurozone – including its seemingly invincible German powerhouse – is stuttering, and China is experiencing its slowest economic growth since 1990. Read more: Eurozone economic confidence falls to fresh two-year low Even [...]
Attorney General looks to prevent Britain being ‘trapped’ in a customs union, says cabinet minister March 4, 2019 Britain’s attorney general is looking to make legally binding changes to the Irish border backstop to ensure Britain is not "trapped" in a customs union, according to communities secretary James Brokenshire. Brokenshire said Geoffrey Cox, the UK’s top government lawyer, is determined to secure a revision to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal that prevents [...]
No-deal Brexit could hit Germany’s economy, industry body warns February 26, 2019 A no-deal Brexit could wipe at least 0.5 per cent off Germany’s GDP, a German industry body warned today. Read more: Carney: UK growth 'guaranteed' to fall in no-deal Brexit Joachim Lang, managing director of Germany’s BDI industry association, predicted a hard Brexit would slash €17bn (£14.7bn) from Germany's economy. The German government forecasts that economic growth [...]
The Eurozone’s push for unified fiscal discipline is doomed to fail February 20, 2019 It is widely acknowledged that, under a monetary union, fiscal and monetary discipline have to go hand in hand in order to maintain financial and macroeconomic stability, and thus ensure that the currency remains sound. For a monetary area with such diverse economies as the Eurozone, establishing the right legal architecture and operational rules to [...]
The ECB has been keeping zombie banks alive February 18, 2019 A decade after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, banks in the euro area have still not recovered. The Eurozone financial stock index is 65 per cent below the pre-crisis peak, whereas the US S&P financial index has come close to the pre-crisis level. The varying fates of financial institutions is due to the [...]
Spain calls snap election after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ‘s budget proposals rejected February 15, 2019 Spain called a snap election for 28 April today after its national budget was rejected. The socialist government’s budget proposal was defeated on Wednesday when politicians in favour of Catalan seceding joined right-wing parties in voting it down. Read more: Germany narrowly avoids recession as GDP stagnates in the fourth quarter It means Spain will [...]
The EU should offer the UK Brexit concessions to protect its economy, German think tank says February 13, 2019 The EU should offer the UK concessions in the Brexit negotiations to avoid damaging its economy, a German think tank said. Gabriel Felbermayr, head of the IFO Institute, said “businesses are suffering already”. He said German exports to the UK had fallen about 10 per cent in real terms since the 2016 referendum and predicted [...]
Looking out for the next financial crisis? Keep an eye on spiralling debt February 13, 2019 Concerns are growing that another financial crisis is imminent. No less important a figure than Kenneth Rogoff wrote last week that “the next major financial crisis may come sooner than you think”. Rogoff, a former chief economist at the IMF, shot to fame with his 2008 book This Time Is Different, co-authored with his Harvard [...]